The Top 10 Best Movie Lawyers
You Won’t Object to this List of Movie Lawyers
Personally, I find movie lawyers much more tolerable than the real deal. For one thing, they’re usually the good guys swooping in to help Lady Justice ensure that due process is done. For another, their lives are so much more exciting than their real-life counterparts. That’s why I thought it would be fun to gather together a list of the 10 best movie lawyers of all time. There have been tons of attorneys that have graced the big screen, so I decided early on to honor those that were actually lawyers, which means characters like Erin Brockovich don’t qualify to appear on here (maybe I’ll do a list of movie paralegals some time). I also refrained from including law students on here and people pretending to be lawyers. Don’t worry though, because this list is one of the few on Stars & Popcorn with multiple honorable mentions. So, settle down and check out this list of movie lawyers before you’re held in contempt.
10. Dr. Gonzo- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Kicking off this list of movie lawyers is a man I might not want to represent me in court, but proves to be a pretty competent lawyer simply because he manages to keep his wild child client out of jail (while perhaps being even wilder). Benicio del Toro plays the drug addict legal council for Johnny Depp’s Raoul Duke (based on Hunter S. Thompson). The two tear through the desert in the midst of one hell of a drug-fueled bender on their way to Las Vegas. Throughout the film, Gonzo reminds us time and time again that he is an attorney by constantly saying, “As your attorney, I advise…” Of course, his advice isn’t always the best, but copious amounts of drugs can alter perceptions. Once he does sober up he proves to be more than just “One of God’s own prototypes. Some kind of high-powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”
9. Michael Clayton- Michael Clayton
Not all movie lawyers have dramatic courtroom scenes. Michael Clayton (played by George Clooney) is a fixer for a big law firm in New York, which essentially means he cleans up problems and keeps clients out of trouble. He’s hardly a saint at the beginning of the movie, but that’s because he’s been put between a rock and a hard place over a restaurant deal gone bad. Hoping to solve his own problem, he manages to get in over his head when he discovers that his firm’s newest case is big enough for the company they’re representing to murder people. Poking his nose where it doesn’t belong quickly gets his name put on the kill list and he’s faced with a moral dilemma: Take the hush money and keep his mouth shut or do the right thing. You’ll have to see the movie to see which he chooses, but given his appearance on this list, you can probably guess.
8. Mickey Haller- The Lincoln Lawyer
Not all movie lawyers are “good guys.” Case in point is Matthew McConaughey’s Mickey Haller, a scummy criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles. Remember, lawyers are bound to provide clients with the best defense they can regardless of their guilt, but Haller has a habit of seeming to only represent guilty criminals. This comes back to bite him in the ass though as it turns out his newest client is a total psychopath. Haller must walk a fine line as he is forced to defend his client and keep his secrets, while still trying to find a way to see that justice is done. The Lincoln Lawyer is filled with plenty of twists and turns as the stakes continue to rise right up until the very end. Thanks to Haller’s quick thinking and underworld connections, he’s able to get the job done.
7. Kathryn Murphy- The Accused
These days, we could use more real-life lawyers like Kelly McGillis’s Kathryn Murphy. Fair warning, the subject matter of The Accused can be triggering for some. The film centers on a woman who was raped by multiple men in a bar while others cheer them on. Murphy is assigned to prosecute the case and is “encouraged” to give the men a plea deal rather than prosecuting them. At first, she folds to the pressure but realizing that justice hasn’t been done she goes after the men who watched and encouraged the crime. Not only is it a movie about how men HAVE to be held responsible for their crimes but also that silence is complicity in these matters. The Accused has a message we could all stand to be reminded of.
6. Frank Galvin- The Verdict
When a lot of us close our eyes and picture lawyers we see snakes in suits chasing ambulances. Well, that’s exactly what Paul Newman’s Frank Galvin is at the beginning of The Verdict. A disgraced alcoholic who lost his job at a big firm for jury tampering. His chance at redemption comes when he takes on a case where a hospital’s negligence left a mother comatose. Despite it being an uphill battle with everything seeming to go wrong, Frank never gives up on his clients. Even as the other team plays dirty, he continues to fight for them and puts his all into the case, not for the money, but because it’s the right thing to do. Frank’s tale is one of personal redemption and justice served which makes him one of the best movie lawyers of all time.